Civil Rights

Research on political mobilization, organizations, and the impact of black leadership is the focus of much of the scholarly literature on the rural black belt. Although there are indications of change, social scientists have tended to overlook the unique position of racial minorities in rural areas (Gilbert, 1991, 175-76; Snipp, 1996, p. 126). V.O. Key ‘s (1949) work has done much to shape the trajectory of political science research on the black belt South. He argued that a connection existed between black population concentration and political repression and that black belt whites viewed the maintenance of white supremacy as a basic priority. The aggregrate research performed by Key has been corroborated by individual level studies (Matthews and Prothro, 1966; Black, 1976; Wright, 1977; Knoke and Kyriazis, 1977; Giles, 1977; and Giles and Evans, 1986).

Boykin (1972) examined the emergence of a black voting majority in Greene county. He found that participation in organizations and strength of party identification were statistically related to African American participation and concluded that the movement could not have succeeded “without the tacit support of the church” (p. 270). Similarly, Button (1989 ) maintained that African American organizations have been important agents of social change. He observed that "black groups in a variety of settings have played important roles in the process of change despite attempts by elites to block or at least manipulate the activities of these groups" (p. 238).

The redistribution of public resources to achieve social equity is an important end of the mobilization process. It is assumed by many voters that the election of black elected officials will result in greater equity. Based on such reasoning, whites in predominantly black rural communities have frequently systematically resisted political change. Consequently, white backlash has yielded policies antithetical to the interests of black Americans. For example, a recent study of Texas counties revealed that whites in counties with higher percentages of minorities were less likely to endorse the drawing of minority districts (Longoria, 1996, p. 885). Findings of this nature suggest that the allocation of public sector benefits is more difficult to redirect (Bullock, 1975; Walton;, 1972; Jones, 1971).

On the other hand, where black elected officials have won political office black citizens have benefitted. Hanks (1987) found that the most salient benefits derived from the political empowerment of African Americans in three Georgia black belt counties were in the reallocation of public sector benefits (p. 156). The finding that mobilization is synonymous with resource acquisition was also uncovered by Morrison (1987) who examined political mobilization in three Mississippi towns (p. 252). Perry (1972) observed that in Greene county problems long plaguing the African American community were addressed by black leadership. Finally, Coombs et al. (1977) concluded that black leadership elected on the basis of the mobilization of African Americans in Greene county positively affected the quality of life of their constituents. The benefits derived from the election of African Americans to public office justify this study of the mobilization process in Sumter.

THE INDIGENOUS APPROACH

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This research employs the indigenous approach to ascertain the dynamics of political mobilization in Sumter county. The perspective, formulated on the basis of resource mobilization (RM) theory 3, seeks to explain the movements of dominated groups (Morris, 1984). It provides a lense for examining how African Americans organized and sustained the movement in Sumter to gain access to the political process. According to Morris (1984): “The task of the indigenous perspective is to examine how dominated groups take advantage of and create the social conditions that allow them to engage in overt power struggles with dominant groups” (282). The indigenous approach assumes that political change is the result of the organized efforts of the dominated supported by an established base of indigenous resources which includes the institutions, organizations, leaders, communication networks, and money (Morris, 1984).

The concept “local movement center” is central to the indigenous approach. Movement centers are a form of dynamic social organization “within the community of a subordinate group, which mobilizes, organizes, and coordinates collective action aimed at attaining the common ends of the group, devise necessary tactics and strategies along with training for their implementation, and engage in actions designed to attain the goals of the group” (Morris, 1984, p. 40). The concept references the notion that numerous local movements occurred instead of a singularly unified national civil rights movement.

Local movement centers have been manifested as community based organizations which developed to directly challange the status quo. The Montgomery Improvement Association in Montgomery, Alabama, the Inter Civic Council of Tallahassee, Florida, and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights of Birmingham were among the first of the modern Civil Rights movement centers (Morris, 1984, 40). These organizations were byproducts of a society which practiced racial discrimination and the total exclusion of the African Americans. However, some individuals gained experience in preexisting organizational structures including citizenship committees, voters leagues, and action councils. Others built on organizational experiences gained during the Civil Rights movement (Campbell and Feagin, 1975; Washington Research Project, 1972). McAdam’s (1985) concluded that black churches, colleges, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) combined to yield political mobilization and social change in southern black communites. Their capacity to sustain protest was due to the external factor of growing political opportunities and the internal factor of indigenous organization (p. 2).

DEMOGRAPHIC AND POLITICAL SETTING

Sumter is the western most county in the Black Belt. At its western border is the state of Mississippi and the Tombigbee River borders the east. The county lies north of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, and Mobile and the Gulf of Mexico are 120 miles to the south. Whites founded the county in 1830 after land was obtained from the Choctaw Indians in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit. Before the Civil War, Sumter slaves annually picked almost a half million bales of cotton (Vodicka, 1980, p. 19).

Sumter is one of sixteen (16) rural counties in Alabama where the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in 1958 and 1968 documented pervasive discrimination against the region’s three-fifths black population.4 About two-thirds of the land in Sumter consists of forest or pine plantation and the rest is used for agriculture. The major cities are Livingston and York, which in 1980 respectively had populations of 3,187 and 3,392 and generated much of the county’s economic wealth. In contrast to the rural areas, the cities are complete with paved roads, running water, street lights and other basic amenities. The rural areas have largely been unable to share in the county’s economic development (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1983).

Political change in Sumter was conditioned by a variety of demographic and political factors including race, population, education, employment, income and poverty, and political participation. African Americans have been in majority since 1860, comprising a high of 82.7% of the total population in 1900 and a low of 66% (11,242) in 1970. In 1980 the county’s population was 16, 908 and blacks represented almost 70% (11,711) (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1970; 1980).

In 1980 only 20% of Sumter blacks compared to 39% of whites, had achieved four years of high school. Only 18% of whites received four or more years of college compared to a mere 5% for blacks. Whites in 1980, therefore, were about twice as likely to obtain education through high school and beyond. At the state level, median school years for African Americans increased from 4.5 years in 1940 to 9 years in 1980. During the same period median school years attained by whites increased from 8.2 to 12.5 years (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1940-80).

The percentage of blacks engaged in farm related occupations declined precipitously from about 76% in 1940 to 3% in 1980. The decline may be partially accounted for by the exodus of blacks from the region in the 1920s and the 1950s. More than 43% of working blacks in 1980 were operators, fabricators and laborers and only 5% were employed in farming and forestry. Almost 58% of working whites were managerial/professional (26.4%) and technical/sales/clerical (31.2%) employees and African Americans respectively comprised about 12% and 9% of these occupational categories. Also, blacks and whites respectively represented 22% and 7.6% of the service workers (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1940-80).

The black belt counties of Alabama have long been among the poorest counties in the nation. Substantial black middle and upper classes have not existed in the county. In 1980, 32% of the black families earned less than $5,000 compared to 6% of white families. Only 9% of black families reported annual incomes in excess of $25,000 while 37% of white families reported incomes in this range. Forty-two percent ( 42%) of black families and 6% white families were below the poverty level (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1980).

Despite a numerical majority, African Americans had little political success until the 1980s. Prior to 1965, the group was virtually excluded from the political process. The 1965 Voting Rights Act gave black citizens the right to register and vote for the first time (U.S. Civil Rights Commission, 1975). The outright refusal of white registrars to register and permit African Americans the right to vote necessitated that federal registrars be dispatched to nine of ten of the black belt counties in southwest Alabama to register black voter (Barker and Jones, 1994, p. 74).5

Table 1 shows the percentage of registered voters by race in Sumter county. The Voter Education Project (VEP) reported that in 1960 registered white voters exceeded the total number of whites who were of voting age in the county. Registered black voters in Sumter increased dramatically between 1964 and 1966. The overall slow progression of black voter registration reflects the determination of whites to maintain power and the problems of movement organization. Although there was a substantial increase in African American voter registration in the county in 1966 (from 26% to 51%), by 1978 it had only reached 55% of the black voting age population. (See Table 1.)

Table 2 shows that the number of elected African American representives also increased for the period from 1970 to 1985. In 1982, blacks were elected to municipal and county level positions including the offices of mayor, county commissioner, and state representative. Between 1981 and 1985 the number of black councilpersons climbed from 1 to 11 and African American representation on the county school board increased from 1 in 1980 to 5 in 1985. The election of a majority black county commission in 1983 was an especially important development. During this period, African Americans also gained control of the county school board. Before proceeding, an overview of the emergence of the Federation is in order.

RISE OF THE FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN COOPERATIVES

The Panola Land Buyers Association (PLBA) predated the Federation. It was established in in 1966 following the eviction of Sumter tenant farmers from plantations for registering to vote and for demanding their share of the federal cotton price support payment (Vodicka, 1980, p. 21). In 1968, when the local white power structure sought to block the sale of 1,100 acres of land to the PLBA, the Federation was asked to provide technical assistance. Acquisition of the land was significant due to its location on the Tombigbee River which later became part of the Tenneessee-Tombigbee Waterway, a massive federal public works project to connect the midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. The county attempted to block the acquisition of the property and it refused to provide such basic services as graded roads and water (Prejean, 1984; U.S. Civil Rights Commission, 1983; Barker and Jones, 1993).

The Federation was incorporated in 1967 by twenty-two (22) cooperatives and credit unions as a regional service, technical assistance and advocacy organization. Its mission was to assist the rural poor by providing education and training, technical and financial assistance, and promoting the cooperative production and distribution of agricultural and non-agricultural products. The articles of incorporation made no explicit references to the group’s involvement in political activities. In 1968, however, the bylaws were amended to stipulate that, “No substantial part of the activities of the corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing and distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office (Articles and Bylaws, 1974, p. 6).

The Rural Training and Research Center was the focal point for community organization. The center provided an alternative to traditional local institutions. Instructional services and technical and vocational training were offered to the families of low income cooperatives encompassing such fields as agriculture, credit union management, animal husbandry, housing construction, and energy management. The Cooperative Education Institute, a major component of the center, offered regularly scheduled courses in cooperative principles and philosophy, cooperative organization and development, cooperative bookkeeping and accounting. Conferences and workshops were held at the center and the weekend-long annual meeting became an anticipated family and community gathering (Federation of Southern Cooperatives, 1980, p. 14).

The Federation launched the Small Farm Energy Conservation Project in 1977. With grant assistance from the Community Services Administration, inexpensive techniques that small farmers could use to save energy and increase their incomes were developed. After two years, one project resulted in the installation and financing of forty-two (42) stoves ranging from $275 to $300. The program also produced an established and experienced energy and technology staff in Sumter (Holmes, et al., 1981, 210).

The Federation’s housing program consisted of five components: (1) new housing packaging and developing; (2) housing rehabilitation and weatherization; (3) emergency energy assistance programs; (4) housing counseling; and (5) self-help housing. Named after local organizer Wendall Paris, the Wendy Hills subdivision, built by the Panola Land Buying Association-Housing Development Corporation (PLBA-HDC) has been a major recipient of Federation support. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also designated the organization to provide comprehensive housing counseling services in Sumter, Marengo, Pickens and Choctaw counties.

The Federation was instrumental in helping to secure federal funding to develop the Black Belt Community Health Center as a model for rural health care delivery. Its programs included the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program which was established to provide medical services to low income women and children. The Federation was a key ally when local whites and the medical society in Sumter attempted to prevent its further development.

Thus, the Federation offered black citizens in Sumter viable alternatives to traditional social institutions. Charles O. Prejean, executive director of the Federation from 1967 to 1981, observed that blacks were relieved of “almost total dependency on the white community . . . it [the Federation] freed them up by giving them another option” (Prejean, May 3, 1984). The vulnerability of the black community to the local white power structure was reduced as a result of the education and technical assistance programs operated by the Federation (Barker and Jones, 1994, p. 78). The Federation was serving more than thirty-five member agricultural cooperatives in the southeast with over 12,000 small farmer and farmworker members by the early 1980s.

INFLUENCE OF THE FEDERATION ON MOBILIZATION

According to the theory, indigenous resources are crucial early in the movement when stability of funding, organization, communications, and leadership are most needed (Morris, pp. 282-283). The local movement center coordinates collective action and promotes relationships between and among leaders, organizations, and the rank-and-file (p. 40). How and to what extent was the Federation able to operate as a local movement center? What was its contribution to the Sumter movement?